Tokunbo Wahab, the Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources in Lagos State is widely believed by many as a breath of fresh air in the nation’s politics.

The trained lawyer hit the ground running immediately after he was appointed as commissioner after his tenure as a Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Education in 2019.

This is surely due in part to his belief that anything worth doing at all is worth doing well. He believes that things should be done the right way to achieve great results.

As Special Adviser to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Education, he spearheaded the biggest turnaround in the educational sector in Lagos. He revamped the educational template of Lagos to meet global standards, upgraded colleges of education, and polytechnics to universities, and ensured teachers were dishing out quality education in line with THEMES agenda.

With all his giant strides, Governor Sanwo-Olu immediately redeployed him in his new role as the Commissioner of Environment and Water Resources during the beginning of his second tenure.

Shortly after he was sworn in as a commissioner, the fearless man didn’t take long before reading the riot act to workers in the ministry and also erring Lagosians who are in the habit of polluting Lagos through waste, air, noise, and encroached builders on areas reserved as green areas or those blocking the drainage channel for easy movement of rainwater.

While many are aware that discharging his duties is a Herculean task, he is doing everything within his power to ensure things are done according to the law and also in due process without minding whose ox is gored.

His no-bending style and courage have earned the outspoken, articulate, and highly cerebral accolades in many quarters. He also has become one of the most talked about commissioners in Lagos State nay Nigeria.

Wahab, a lawyer with more than 25 years of experience, is a partner at Wall and Ace Law Firm. He has extensive experience across all strata of legal practice.

He is also an alumnus of the prestigious Harvard Kennedy School of Government and the Wharton University of Pennsylvania.

Nollywood actor and director Charles Inojie has opened up what inspired he and actor Ali Nuhu to create the #MakeWeHalla movement against domestic violence.

In a recent interview with Wazobia FM, Inojie noted that he wanted to use his platform to change the culture of silence around domestic violence, and he realized that the way to do it was to make noise.

“When we all keep quiet, the abuser, perpetrator of this act of abuse seems confident to do more. But when we speak up and against the abuse without being violent, it sends a signal to the perpetrator that he should desist.”

Inojie continued, “This evokes what prompted myself and Ali to decide to join our voices for this matter. We thought about it and arrived at the fact that we all are guilty if we continue to keep quiet, and watch domestic abuse happen around us. “Make We Halla” is actually a call to action to everybody around to say “if you see something that is bad, speak out and do not keep quiet.”

Ali Nuhu and Inojie recently teamed up in a viral video, “Make We Halla”, that has continued to make waves on social media. In the video, the two friends start banging on their plates in a restaurant in an attempt to call out the domestic violence they witness. Other patrons join in on the halla in a moving display of solidarity, and the violence stops.

The two film stars have gone a step further to start the #MakeWeHalla challenge that has seen celebrities like Wumi Toriola, Kiki Bakare, and Tosin Olaniyan, and many other fans jump on the #MakeWeHalla train and lend their voice.

Explaining the challenge during his interview, Inojie said, “We’ve been overwhelmed by how much support we’ve seen in this movement. It just shows how much we need this conversation. People have spoken up, shared their stories, and most importantly, committed to “Halla” whenever they see domestic violence.”

He continued, “The #MakeWeHalla challenge for everyone is very easy. Just go Tiktok or Instagram. Almost everybody is now on Tiktok, almost everybody is on Instagram. Take your phone. It’s easy. No rules, just halla your way. Anyhow, you deem fit to add your voice in raising awareness against domestic violence is welcome. Halla, talk am. Or if you feel like “I am someone that is shy’, you can go to the videos already uploaded -whether my own oo, or Ali’s own – you can duet. Just post with the hashtag #MakeWeHalla. And the beautiful thing is that joining in the challenge to create more awareness even gets you a reward. The best Halla video will collect brand new iphone 12..”

Going further, he said, “The hashtag is very important so that we can see the video. The hashtag is #MakeWeHalla. If you like, tag Ali or tag myself and for the prize we have, the middle of May will be the finale.”

When asked about his motivations for “Make We Halla”, Inojie also revealed how an incident he witnessed as a young man further changed his mindset about the need to always speak up when domestic violence is witnessed.

“By myself, as a little boy, I have seen one who, till today, lost one eye to domestic violence. That time, many of us could have done something in that same compound but we felt like we were concerned about it, because they are a couple and they will sort themselves out. So, all of those things are what we refer to as silent bystanders, passive. People just say “Wetin concern me?” or ignore and move on with their lives and in little time, major damage would have been caused. This has led to several innocent children losing their mothers and some becoming orphans. Hence, we say no to domestic violence, it shouldn’t thrive in our midst or our society. Let’s see a way, a movement to call people to action saying don’t keep quiet when you see domestic violence, no matter where it happens, no matter who it happens to, speak out but not in a violent way. Let’s Make We Halla!”, Inojie encouraged.

Links to #MakeWeHalla Challenge entries:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5bzgAhqf5w/?igsh=MXZ6Y2d0dmdjcHpwdg%3D%3D

@jire_ogunleye

#duet with @Joseph A. Momodu #MakeWeHalla #challenge Please join me as l join Uncle Charles to Halla against Domestic. I am also Halla-ing! Domestic violence is not good.

♬ original sound – Jire🖤

Popular cryptocurrency platform Binance was fined “$6 million for violating the country’s money laundering and terrorist financing laws” by the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC).

International media reports indicate that the fine is denominated in Canadian dollars, which, when converted, brings the total sum to USD4.38 million.

FINTRAC claimed in a recent post on its website that Binance had neglected to register with the organisation as a foreign money services provider.

The cryptocurrency company allegedly neglected to disclose significant virtual currency transactions totaling $10,000 or more, according to the anti-money laundering agency.

“FINTRAC announced today [Thursday] that it has imposed an administrative monetary penalty on Binance Holdings Limited, also operating as Binance Holdings (IE) Ltd., Binance.com, Binance Global and Binance,” the statement reads.

“This foreign money services business was imposed an administrative monetary penalty of $6,002,000 on May 7, 2024 for non-compliance with Part 1 of the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act and its associated Regulations.

“Binance Holdings Limited was found to have committed the following administrative violations: Failure to register with FINTRAC as a foreign money services business; and failure to report large virtual currency transactions of $10,000 or more in the course of a single transaction, together with the prescribed information.”

Commenting on the matter, Sarah Paquet, director and chief executive officer of FINTRAC, said the country’s anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing regime is in place to protect the safety of Canadians and the security of the nation’s economy.

“FINTRAC will continue to work with businesses to help them understand and comply with their obligations under the Act. We will also be firm in ensuring that businesses continue to do their part and we will take appropriate actions when they are needed.”

Adjudged to be the largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, Binance has been the subject of regulatory sanctions in some parts of the world.

On April 30, Changpeng Zhao, the founder of Binance, was sentenced to four months in prison for money laundering, unlicensed money transmitting and violations in Seattle, United States (US).

According to US officials, Zhao intentionally turned a blind eye to transactions that financed terrorism, the illegal drug trade, and child sex abuse.

Earlier in February, a federal judge in the US approved a plea deal by Binance, requiring the cryptocurrency exchange to pay over $4.3 billion in fines and reparations.

Binance is also under investigation for illicit operations and foreign exchange (FX) rate manipulation in Nigeria.

The firm, and two of its top officials, Nadeem Anjarwalla, Binance’s regional manager for Africa, and Tigran Gambaryan, the company’s head of financial crime compliance, were charged with tax evasion and money laundering by the federal government.

The duo were arrested and detained on February 28, but Anjarwalla escaped from custody in March.